The Manchester Monarchs were unable to overcome three Adirondack Thunder first period goals, and fell by a score of 5-3 to their North Division rival Saturday night at SNHU Arena.

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The Monarchs (5-3-0-1) and Thunder (5-1-1-1) will play the final game of their weekend series tomorrow afternoon (3 p.m.) at SNHU Arena.

“I thought we started out well early on, but obviously got behind the game late in the first period,” Head Coach, Rich Seeley, said. “I think Adirondack executed better than we did, and that was the difference in the game.”

Daniel Ciampini put the Monarchs on the board first, scoring his 4###sup/sup### goal of the season just three minutes into the game. After receiving a pass from Justin Gutierrez along the wall, Ciampini followed-up on his own rebound off a defender’s leg, and tucked it behind Thunder goaltender, Ken Appleby, for a 1-0 Monarchs lead.

Just 1:16 after the Ciampini score, the Thunder answered with a goal of their own when Mikkel Aagaard scored his 3rd goal of the season. Aagaard received a drop pass after stepping into the offensive-zone, found plenty of room between the Monarchs defense and stepped into a shot that beat Monarchs goaltender, Colin Stevens, to tie the game, 1-1.

Phil Lane broke the tie for the Thunder on the power play at 14:09 of the first period. Mathieu Brodeur took a pass from Matt Bailey at the top of the left circle and sent a pass across the circles to Lane, who sent the puck through Steven’s five-hole for his 5###sup/sup### goal of the season.

Bailey extended the Thunder’s lead to 3-1 at 17:15 of the first when he netted his 1st goal of the season. Brett Pollock freed a loose puck in the right corner and passed it to Bailey who was at the right face-off dot, where he beat Stevens glove-side.

Justin Gutierrez pulled the Monarchs within a goal at 1:21 into the second period when he scored his 2nd goal of the season. After receiving a cross-ice pass from Matt Leitner, Gutierrez buried the puck past the blocker of Appleby to make the score, 3-2, Thunder.

Ty Loney regained the two-goal lead for Adirondack when he scored his 3rd goal of the season at 8:51 of the second period. A Gunnar Hughes shot lead to a rebound off the chest of Stevens, and Loney capitalized to make the score, 4-2.

After simultaneous penalties on the Monarchs, Brodeur took advantage while on the 5-on-3 power play, to score his 2nd goal of the season. Brodeur fired a one-timer off a pass out of the corner from Loney, and beat Stevens glove-side, making the score, 5-2, Thunder.

At 5:52 of the third period, Derek Arnold netted his 2nd goal of the season on the power play to cut the lead to 5-3. Arnold received a pass in the high slot from Damir Sharipzyanov and picked the high blocker corner on Appleby to give the Monarchs life in the third.

Despite high pressure throughout the remainder of the final frame, the Monarchs were unable to strike again.

The Monarchs and the Thunder complete their weekend series Sunday, Nov. 6 (3 p.m.), finishing a three game home-and-home series with their North Division rivals.

Notes

Sam Brittain replaced Colin Stevens in net to begin the third period

David Kolomatis recorded his 125###sup/sup### professional assist

The Monarchs allowed a power-play goal, snapping a streak of 23-straight kills